Large Fierce Mammal

I have written here a number of times of Krampus, the dark side of the good cop, bad cop equation that is the reality of the visit from St. Nicholas, predominantly blamed on Austrian Christmas tradition. Most particularly, on this day in 2015, I presented A Krampus Carol, in which I said in part —

“A Krampus Carol is an animated short film originally intended for airing on the Travel Channel in an episode of Anthony Bourdain‘s series, No Reservations. But as reported in a Gawker piece titled Travel Channel Pulls Touching Christmas Special About Child-Licking Demon,

“‘… when executives got a look at Bourdain’s take on the Austrian legend of Krampus, they quickly pulled the plug. Apparently, they felt the world was not quite ready for a stop-motion retelling of Santa’s ‘whip-toting sidekick’ who ‘whips and licks naughty children’ with his 12-inch tongue then ‘carries them off in his sack’ — a source tells us they cited sensitivities regarding the Penn State scandal when delivering Bourdain the disappointing news. (The leering portrait of the Pope in the background probably didn’t help matters, either.)”

I will now reprise that wonderful bit of artistry as the opener for tonight’s double bill.

If Bourdain’s handlers lost their shit over a bit of child licking with their flagellation, I would ask you to consider the possible reactions to tonight’s feature — The Little Krampus — being the thesis film for Redmond Watson at Ringling College of Art and Design. The story line:

“Krampus, the Christmas devil, takes on a little girl as an apprentice.”

I would posit that this outcome lies a little south of that envisioned in my poem The Apprentice that you can read by clicking the title, but no matter. Here’s a spirited two-and-a half minutes for this Long Winter’s Night.